Sawt Falasteen - Modi meets Zelensky on historic Ukraine visit

Modi embraced Zelensky -- who looked visibly emotional -- at the Mariinsky palace in Kyiv, in the first ever visit by an Indian premier to Ukraine.

The Indian leader is casting himself as a possible peacemaker between Moscow and Kyiv.

But his visit comes at a dramatic moment in the two-and-a-half year war, with a diplomatic settlement appearing more elusive than ever.

Kyiv's forces are mounting a major incursion into Russia's Kursk region while Moscow's army is advancing in eastern Ukraine, claiming to have seized a swathe of towns and villages in recent weeks.

"No problem can be resolved on a battlefield," Modi said in Poland on Wednesday before heading to Ukraine.

India, he said, supports "dialogue and diplomacy for restoration of peace and stability as soon as possible."

But it is unclear if Modi could be an effective dealmaker.

The 73-year-old has good relations with Russia, and met President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in July.

He was criticised for hugging Putin during that visit, hours after a Russian strike on a Kyiv children's hospital.

At the time, Zelensky called it a "devastating blow" to peace efforts.

The Ukrainian leader on Friday said he and Modi had together "honoured the memory of children whose lives were taken by Russian aggression."

"Children of every country deserve to be safe. We must make it possible," Zelensky said in a post on Telegram.

- Indian diplomacy -

During his visit to Moscow last month, Modi had told Putin that "war cannot solve problems" and that seeing "innocent children murdered... is pain that is unbearable."

Ahead of his arrival in Kyiv, Modi said he planned to "share perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict" with Zelensky.

While India has historically warm ties with Russia, it also courts closer security partnerships with Western nations as a bulwark against its regional rival China.

New Delhi has avoided explicit condemnation of Russia's 2022 invasion and has abstained on UN resolutions that criticise the Kremlin, instead urging both sides to resolve their differences through direct dialogue.

Moscow also remains a key supplier of oil and weapons to India.

But Russia's Ukraine invasion has also had a human cost for India, with several reports of Indian citizens being killed fighting for Russia.

In February, New Delhi said it was pushing the Kremlin to send back some of its citizens.

In the first year of the invasion in 2022, Putin publicly acknowledged that Modi had "concerns" over Moscow's actions in Ukraine.

Western powers have in recent years pressured New Delhi to distance itself from Russia.

- Russia eyes more Ukrainian towns -

Ukraine has said that one of its aims of launching the surprise Kursk incursion on August 6 was to force Moscow into "fair" negotiations.

While there was no sign of any serious talks to end the war before then, Russia has said the counter-offensive now makes them impossible.

Putin earlier this year said Kyiv would have to abandon territory in four of its regions which Moscow claims to have annexed as a precondition to opening talks -- a hardline demand that drew scorn in Kyiv and the West.

Zelensky has also ruled out direct negotiations with Putin.

Even as Moscow scrambles to fight off the Ukrainian attack into its Western Kursk region, its forces are still advancing in the eastern Donetsk region, capturing several towns and villages in recent days.

Kyiv has ordered some evacuations from Pokrovsk -- a key strategic and logistics hub in the region -- amid fears it could fall to Russia.

As Modi arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine said a Russian strike killed two people in the north-eastern Sumy region and that two other people were pulled out of rubble caused by another strike on the Kharkiv region, further south, a day earlier.

The United Nations has verified more than 10,000 civilian deaths in Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022, but says the true figure is likely much higher.

B.AbuZeid--SF-PST